Lady's (And Gentleman's) Choice 2015: Yankees Season Predictions

The annual Lady's Choice series has always been about Yankees season predictions by women who contribute to Lady At The Bat. This year, for the first time, the predictions also include one by a gentleman: Peter Colgan.  Pete recently joined the staff and will be posting on Fridays during the season.

Below are all our predictions--Christina's, Pete's and mine--for the 2015 New York Yankees:

"Good news Yankees fans!  After a two year absence, the 2015 New York Yankees are headed back to the playoffs.  It’s true that there are a lot of question marks heading into the season for the Yankees--in both the rotation and the lineup--that add up to sizable headwinds the team will have to pass through to make it to the playoffs. But if the pitching stays healthy and if the hitters can find a way to routinely beat the shift and stay in the lineup, this team has a chance to be very good.  They won’t win the division but will come in second, good enough for the second Wild Card.  Not ideal but, given the disappointment of the past two seasons, it will be enough.  If there’s ever a time to believe that all the ifs will fall into place, it’s the week before the season.  Hope springs eternal.  Baseball is back and, come October, the Yankees will be as well."—Christina

 

"The 2015 American League East race is being described as 'wide open' by fearless prognosticators, and that might be a good thing for the Yankees. You probably have heard somewhere that the Yankees roster for the upcoming season is seriously flawed. All winter I have advocated that success or failure in the Bronx will depend on the top of the rotation (Tanaka, Pineda and Sabathia) and the heart of the order (Beltran, Teixeira and McCann). Now I'm thinking 'plus one' to each list. Nathan Evoldi could be a large factor in the rotation, and Alex Rodriguez the same in the lineup--seriously. So here is the deal and it's simple to remember: I will take my chances if the rotation can get at least three of the starters to approach 200 innings. The heart of the order needs at least three of the aforementioned players to start in, say, 130 games. All is well if this happens, in my opinion, and by 'well' I am predicting a second place finish with a play in game as the second Wild Card. Worked pretty well for San Francisco and Kansas City last year. Stay healthy and we're playoff bound. Simple as that.-"---Pete

 

As for me, I like how this 2015 team has been constructed. They've gotten younger, have put together a strong bullpen and have strengthened their infield defense. However, most of the questions from 2014 remain, including health and age. These flaws, if you will, don't look so bad when you compare them with the flaws on every other team in the newly weak AL East. As for the rest of the American League, there are at least four teams that are arguably better than the Yankees, who can overtake them in the race for both the first and second Wild Cards. That means the Yankees' best chance to get into the playoffs this year is for them to win the division. However, they can only do that if everyone stays healthy and, as much as I want that to happen, I don't believe that it will. Besides, all the old players on last year's team are yet another year older. So, unfortunately, in 2015, the New York Yankees will miss the playoffs for the third year in a row.